innovation Speakers

Despite not having a background in product development, the inherent nature of my material makes me one of a growing number of innovation speakers working all over the world today.

In a world of ever-accelerating change, innovation and adaptation are becoming increasingly important to every business on the planet. Gone are the days where you found a winning formula and then repeated it for as long as possible. Why? Because now the forces of change will sweep you away before you’ve really capitalised fully on your idea.

Look at the Silicon Valley culture where great ideas are broken and reformed almost as soon as they have achieved any kind of permanence and investment is constantly being made for the long term. Because innovation IS now risk management. It’s the way in which you insulate your organisation against the forces of extinction and create resilience.

All innovation speakers propagate the same basic message: you have to learn how to change, and fast. But only a few innovation speakers have a unique and compelling metaphor to drive it home. Because what does it take to innovate successfully? Literally hundreds of failures along the way…

Like a poker player, you need to be prepared to lose in the short term in order to succeed in the final analysis, when it counts the most. Thus, using the metaphors of poker and Darwinian evolution, I show that most brilliant systems of innovation and adaptation are prepared to fail millions of times in order to survive – literally. Mutations are nothing more than errors and mistakes in the system, which ultimately unwittingly establish competitive advantage through the law of large numbers.A poker player works hard at his or her play and trusts that in the long run their edge will make good. In order to do that though, they almost have to create a mental culture which is internally aligned with itself. One which accepts that the process is not going to be easy day-to-day. Good innovation speakers emphasise the need for this pain because, in a world of continual change, the companies who embrace this philosophy and create similar internal alignment will be best placed to come through the uncertainty ahead.

Suitable For: Small or large teams in organisations who are new to innovation or used to innovating as part of what they do but want new and challenging perspectives on it to galvanise and motivate. Works in 30/45/60/90 minute and seminar form.